


Dancing in the Deep

by plantyourtreeswithme



Series: Terrifying Tolkien Week Fics [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Bilbo Baggins Falls to the One Ring, Insanity, Post-Lord of the Rings, Terrifying Tolkien Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-21 14:55:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantyourtreeswithme/pseuds/plantyourtreeswithme
Summary: I carried on without a careAnd steadily approached the lairOf monsters who refused to sleep.I paid no mind; I broke the dawn;And no one noticed I was gone,Forever dancing in the deep.





	Dancing in the Deep

**Author's Note:**

> Proud to say that this is the fourth consecutive round of Terrifying Tolkien Week, the yearly creative challenge founded by [@elfmaidens](http://elfmaidens.tumblr.com) and I back in 2015. Although I haven't participated every year myself, I'm marvelously proud of the work this fandom's produced for the challenge - and I'm excited to join the celebration with some writing of my own!
> 
> If you'd like to participate in the challenge yourself, check out [our prompts](http://terrifyingtolkien.tumblr.com/post/163896636500/prompts-have-been-posted-for-terrifying-tolkien)!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"And would it not be a pity," said the she-elf, her eyes bright and full of naïveté, "for him to die?"_
> 
> _"No, my dear. It would surely be liberation."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sindarin translations were found at [this site](https://realelvish.net/101_sindarin.html) and [this translator](http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/angora5/Translator.html).
> 
> I've used an html feature that translates Sindarin if you scroll your mouse over it. It's really cool and available [here](http://acefandomite.tumblr.com/post/125435570772/hi-first-of-all-i-want-to-say-that-your-writing) if you want to use it. Translations are also available at the end if you're on mobile.

"Master Bilbo... Bilbo, look at me."

The  _perian_ 's glazed-over eyes flickered and blinked as he slowly began to register what was before him. His first instinct was obviously to recoil, as he flinched a little and gripped the arms of his chair with veined, weathered hands, but the fog filling his head eventually cleared, and his expression brightened as he realized who he was talking to.

"Oh! Arwen, my dear, you gave me such a fright," he said, the lines in his face deepening as he smiled at her. "For a moment, I didn't even know who you were."

"You looked so very sad before I addressed you,  _mellon_ ," she told him, sitting back in the wicker chair opposite his and attempting to conceal the concern in her voice.

_ "Û, ison i nîf gîn." _

_"Gwestog?"_ Arwen asked, wincing at the shocked look he immediately gave her.

"Whatever do you mean? Of course I do, but -"

"Your mind is fading, Bilbo," she replied. "You dwell in the past and speak of things that happened decades ago as if they occurred just yesterday. I worry for you."

"Oh, I can't help it," Bilbo said with an odd little chuckle. "Old age does that, you know. Muddles up your head and makes it so you can't remember important things - but the  _unimportant_ things, trivial little details from half a century ago that you never thought you'd -"

"I do not mean to stop you," Arwen interrupted, "but we have strayed very far from what we were originally talking about."

"And what was that?"

"Well, I came to inform you that your nephew has reached Mithlond and is to depart shortly. He will wait for you until you tell him otherwise, but when I informed you of that, you became rather upset, and -"

"I have already told him," the hobbit said, a strange sort of viciousness in his voice, "that I am staying behind, and I shall not pass into Valinor until I finally find what I am looking for."

"The Ring is gone," she insisted. "Frodo rid us of that evil many years ago."

"Yes, and I must find it again. It isn't evil at all, my dear - once I've got it, I'll show you. I'm sure I'll eventually give it back to Frodo, and he can keep it as a sort of token if he likes."

"You can barely even stand, let alone travel across Middle-earth! Bilbo, please..."

"Now, look here!" There was a very nasty look on the  _perian_ 's face, and Arwen nearly cried at the sight of it. Her old friend was dwindling and giving way to the insipid power of the Ring - it was still lingering over him, even after so many years -

"I've  _got_ to get it back," Bilbo continued earnestly. "How else am I to protect Frodo? He's like a son to me, and I am much too old to take care of him myself. The Ring will protect the both of us... it'll... we'll finally be safe, finally..."

"Excuse me," she said, turning and calling to an elf standing nearby.  _"Natho, an gell nîn. Boe de nestad."_

 _"Naw,"_ the attendant replied, coming to her aide and helping the hobbit to his feet.

"Take him to his rooms, please. He needs rest above all else."

"No," Bilbo muttered feebly, but he let himself be taken away nonetheless.

Arwen watched him go with an aching heart and unsteady hands.

 

* * *

 

"I thought for sure that when Frodo destroyed the Ring, its sway over the two of them would be broken," she told Elrond a few hours later, walking through the halls of Rivendell with him as dusk settled. "It seems I was wrong."

"Why do you think Frodo is leaving?" Elrond mused. "The pull is too much for him to bear. Only in Aman will his burden finally be lifted."

"If Bilbo would just  _go_ with him..."

"At this stage in his life, I fear that he may die before he even makes it to the Gray Havens. It's much safer for him to remain in our care for the time being."

"And would it not be a pity," said the she-elf, her eyes bright and full of naïveté, "for him to die?"

"No, my dear. It would surely be liberation."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Sindarin Translations (in order of appearance):**  
>  _perian_ \- hobbit  
>  _mellon_ \- friend  
>  _û, ison i nîf gîn_ \- no, I know your face  
>  _Gwestog?_ \- Do you promise?  
>  _Natho, an gell nîn. Boe de nestad._ \- Help me, please. He needs healing.  
>  _naw_ \- yes


End file.
